the red dot movie review

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Red Dot’ On Netflix, A Swedish Thriller Where A Romantic Trip Goes Seriously Wrong

Where to stream:.

Stream It Or Skip It

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Stream it or skip it: 'murder in a small town' on fox, where a harbor town's new police chief solves murders and falls for the librarian, stream it or skip it: 'penelope' on netflix, about a teenage girl who leaves her family to find herself in the forests of the pacific northwest, stream it or skip it: 'ellen degeneres: for your approval' on netflix, in which a comedy legend wants to be beloved once again.

Nordic stories are all the rage these days; with titles like Quicksand , Marcella , Equinox , and more, Netflix has been embracing the Swedish side of things. If their latest addition, a tense thriller called Red Dot , is any indication of the content to come, we have a feeling Netflix will be making Nordic films and series for the foreseeable future.

RED DOT : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: David (Anastasios Soulis) and Nadja (Nanna Blondell) are a young couple trying to make it work in Stockholm. While things are promising on the surface – David has a great engineering job, and Nadja is studying to be a doctor – things are tense between the couple, and made even more so when Nadja discovers she is pregnant. Looking for a chance to rekindle their spark, David surprises Nadja with a romantic weekend away in Northern Sweden where they’ll ski and sleep under the Northern Lights.

The trip starts normally enough, but things start to feel a little off when they encounter a pair of hunters at a gas station nwho seem a little… off, and things only get weirder from there. David, Nadja, and their dog Boris try to move past this brief incident, but it’s the beginning of a seriously dark turn of events. Their first night under the Northern Lights is soon interrupted by a red laser dot on their tent, and the two end up running for their lives through the snowy wilderness from an unseen force. Full of twists and turns you’ll never see coming, Red Dot doesn’t hold anything back.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Red Dot is a little reminiscent of other ‘being-stalked-through-the-wilderness’ thrillers like The Ritual , as well as hopeless, tense thrillers in the same category as It Comes At Night and The Lodge . Its snowy setting and the fight for survival may also bring to mind flicks like The Grey and even The Revenant .

Performance Worth Watching: Nanna Blondell is wonderful as Nadja, a woman whose resentment seems to dictate her life, even if her husband doesn’t take much notice of it. She has the kind of screen presence that suggests she could carry her own film or series, charming and funny when things are light and deeply affecting in the film’s more intense, harrowing moments. She’s apparently set to appear in Marvel’s Black Widow , and I can’t wait to see her career blow up.

Memorable Dialogue: It’s cheesy, but it comes during one of the film’s only moments of levity – and it gives us a glimpse of the central couple’s chemistry: “I may have the world’s best job, but I don’t want to lose the world’s best girl.”

Sex and Skin: There’s some almost-action in a car flashback, but not much else.

Our Take: It may take a little time for this chilly thriller to warm up, but once it does, there’s no stopping it. Red Dot is the rare film unafraid to be relentlessly grim and self-serious, but it feels earned. The filmmaking isn’t flashy or in-your-face, but rather relies on the desolate, wintry setting and its strong performers to bring everything home. Anastasios Soulis and Nanna Blondell are truly great here, believable as a couple who seem to love each other deeply but can’t quite get into a healthy groove. We find out later what’s haunting the two of them, but it manifests itself so subtly early on that it’s easy to think they might be coping with run-of-the-mill issues and relationship resentments.

Red Dot is not a film for those with weak stomachs or a love of happy endings, but it might check quite a few boxes for those who might be willing to wallow in misery and hopelessness for just under 90 minutes. This is not a film of heroes and villains, or good and evil. It’s about the horrors of humanity and what we’re all capable of, even if we don’t want to admit it. At its core, the film is really a psychological thriller; the cat-and-mouse aspect is suspenseful, yes, but watching these people unravel is terrifying.

It’s fortunate that Red Dot found a home at Netflix, where it will likely be widely seen and discussed. I can’t think of a better place for a film this humorless – and that’s not a bad thing – to make its debut. There are no easy answers in Red Dot , and there aren’t many easy questions, either. Red Dot is a bold film, one unafraid to reveal the ugliness of human nature and the often bleak reality of the world. And while compelling to watch unfold, it’s not a very fun reality to accept.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Red Dot is tense, disturbing, and well-made. Not everyone may be able to stomach it, but for those who aren’t afraid to let things get a little bleak, Red Dot may be just the thing.

Should you stream or skip the Swedish thriller #RedDot on @netflix ? #SIOSI — Decider (@decider) February 12, 2021

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski .

Stream Red Dot on Netflix

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Red Dot (2021) – Netflix Movie Review

A Snowy Cat & Mouse Thriller

Red Dot is a competent enough thriller but is likely to get lost in the blizzard of action flicks that roll in across 2021. In its simplest form, this movie plays out as an 80 minute cat and mouse chase, with lots of running and surviving across a bleak, snowy wasteland.

The characters are generally well written though, with a nice twist midway through to keep things fresh. It may not be the best thriller of the year, but it is a perfectly serviceable one, making for a decent enough watch.

Our central duo here are Nadja and David, who have been married for a year and a half. Following David’s less-than-romantic proposal to his girlfriend in a public bathroom, their honeymoon period soon ends and they wind up falling into the humdrum of married life.

Things are not going great for this couple, and when Nadja learns that she’s pregnant, big question marks remain over the direction their relationship is going to take. In order to patch up their differences, David suggests they head to the North of Sweden for a hiking holiday getaway.

That getaway turns into a nightmare though when the duo find themselves mericlessly hunted by a madman with a sniper rifle. With a red laser sight focused on the pair, Nadja and David fight to survive as they eventually uncover the truth around exactly who’s chasing them.

The story here is pretty simple, although that aforementioned twist ending does a great job explaining why they’re being hunted. In fact, this twist is worth the time investment alone, turning everything upside down as we start to question the motives of the different characters.

Beyond that though, Red Dot adopts all the usual hallmarks of this genre you’d expect, with a simple enough opening set-up and lots of action peppered throughout.

The set-up is pretty cliched though and we’ve seen this numerous times across a number of different genres. It hits all the usual plot beats you’d expect, with enough pace and tension to keep things enjoyable, despite its familiarity.

There are some niggling issues here though, namely from some of the stupid character actions and the plot armour our central protagonist seems to be wearing for much of the movie. The amount of injuries David sustains is pretty shocking and the fact that he’s still able to stand by the end is testament to the suspension of disbelief you need to adopt going into this.

With that in mind though, Red Dot is a typical popcorn-munching thriller, armed with a few surprise twists. With a lively run-time that never outstays its welcome, Netflix’s latest thriller is a decent enough picture but unlikely to be one you’ll remember long after the credits roll.

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Verdict - 6.5/10 6.5/10

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Red Dot Reviews

Red Dot is an interesting and solidly executed suspense movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 16, 2023

Somewhat overcharged, perhaps too close to the token disparate Western police-thriller (think Guy Ritchie at half-speed), employing gimmicky moments of brutal brazenness. Yet, this brazenness helps the movie... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 23, 2022

It’s a run-for-your-life horror movie one minute and a gritty survival thriller the next. But when blended together the story has some heavy things to say about humanity and the world we live in.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 17, 2022

There's a solid 45 minutes here that are pure cinema, all harried movement and sweaty desperation ... it's safe to say Darborg is a talent to watch.

Full Review | Jun 6, 2021

This uneven thriller could have been great, but too many issues keep it from reaching that potential.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 2, 2021

The dubbing is godawful, but if you want to take it in as background noise, there is that. It's better in Swedish, but even then just passable.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 27, 2021

For fans of hard and fast survival thrills, Red Dot is certain to satisfy. Adrenaline-fueled and sufficiently vicious, the red dot is on target- and the target is a good one.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 24, 2021

...a relentlessly erratic yet ultimately rewarding piece of work.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 14, 2021

Red Dot nails the intensity needed to keep the audience on edge, but the third act was a bit too convoluted for its own good.

Full Review | Original Score: 5.5/10 | Feb 12, 2021

Tense, disturbing, and well-made.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2021

The twists only pay off if you let yourself fall into the same trap our hunted Stockholmies do. You will.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 12, 2021

The idea that things are bad but you could be in these folks' shoes is the basis for all controlled-fear cinema. "Red Dot" contorts that notion in an unsettling and unsparing fashion you won't soon forget, winter, spring, summer or fall.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 12, 2021

There's nowhere for these two to go beyond deeper into a frozen nightmare, and they drag the audience with them.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 9, 2021

Home » Movies » Movie Explainers

Red Dot ending explained – who’s behind the rifle?

It should be obvious from the title Red Dot ending explained , but this article contains MAJOR plot spoilers.

Netflix’s Red Dot is a film that takes some surprising turns and veers into rather challenging territory, so it’ll doubtlessly be the kind of thing that prompts a fair amount of discussion among those who found it in the thumbnails , watched expecting one thing, and were shocked to get something else entirely. The final act is properly deranged and contains a good helping of developments, so we’ll do our best to explain what went down and why.

Red Dot begins as — and remains for about an hour — any old thriller. The couple at its center, David and Nadja, are hoping to repair their damaged relationship by venturing out into the mountains of Northern Sweden for a skiing trip. Nadja is pregnant, though as we see when she confides in her kindly neighbor, Tomas, she isn’t sure if she and David are ready for a child of their own. At first, we’re to assume this is because their relationship is on the rocks, but as things progress we see that Nadja’s reservations are intimately tied to the film’s plot.

Almost immediately after arriving at their remote destination, David and Nadja aggravate some racist local hunters, who leave vile graffiti on their car. Nadja can’t help but retaliate, so when their tent starts to be plagued by the tell-tale laser sight of a hunting rifle, she and David naturally assume that the locals are out for revenge. These early sequences are tense but, we think, predictable. David and Nadja’s dog, Boris, is beheaded and left in their tent, and they’re chased through the wilderness by the shooter. During their escape David is badly injured, and begins hallucinating, seeing visions of a little boy in a yellow jacket. This is perplexing to the audience but not, it seems, to Nadja. We’ll learn why later.

In the meantime, David and Nadja find shelter and call mountain rescue. Their supposed salvation turns out to be one of the hunters, Jarmo, so they flee and eventually shoot him with an emergency flare. Later, they stumble upon another local, and David stoves his head in with a rock. Neither of these people seemed all that much of a threat, and when David and Nadja finally happen upon their final destination, we learn why.

After asking the man in the house, Einar, to call for help, things take a swift left turn. David and Nadja barricade themselves in a room that contains various surveillance photographs of David and Nadja in their apartment, as well as a framed picture of the little boy that David has been seeing in the wilderness. It’s here we learn that Tomas, their neighbor, is the one who has been hunting them. In a flashback set immediately after the prologue in which David first proposed to Nadja, we see them get frisky in the car and accidentally knock down that little boy, Tomas’s son, who was out flying a drone with his father. Rather than turn themselves in to the police, they fled, but thanks to the drone’s camera, Tomas was able to identify them, eventually ingratiating himself into their lives by moving across the street and befriending them. This trip, we learn, was suggested to David by Tomas so he could take his revenge.

Tomas’s original plan was to shoot them, but having been foiled by the storm, he comes up with a much more sadistic idea. He wants David and Nadja to feel the same pain that he has, and so, holding David at gunpoint, he tells him to drill through Nadja’s pregnant belly with a power tool. If he doesn’t, he says, he’ll shoot Nadja, so both mother and child will die. If David does what he’s told, at least he has a chance of saving Nadja. Of course, David isn’t able to go through with it, but just as Tomas is about to shoot them, Jarmo arrives unexpectedly. In the confusion, Tomas shoots Jarmo, Jarmo shoots Einar, and David and Nadja are able to flee.

This seems like their chance at salvation. But David, having been kneecapped by Tomas on top of all his other injuries, can’t go any further and implores Nadja to flee. She does, but stumbles on the rifle of the man David killed earlier, and returns with it to try and save David. Just as it seems she has the drop on Tomas, she’s shot dead by an unseen marksman who turns out to be Tomas’s heretofore unseen wife. With the love of his life and his child now dead, David begs Tomas to kill him, but he leaves him alive to live with the pain. The ending Red Dot is not for the faint-hearted, and the film itself is certainly not for lovers of dogs or children.

Article by Jonathon Wilson

Jonathon is one of the co-founders of Ready Steady Cut and has been an instrumental part of the team since its inception in 2017. Jonathon has remained involved in all aspects of the site’s operation, mainly dedicated to its content output, remaining one of its primary Entertainment writers while also functioning as our dedicated Commissioning Editor, publishing over 6,500 articles.

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Directed by Alain Darborg

On a hiking trip to rekindle their marriage, a couple find themselves fleeing for their lives in the unforgiving wilderness from an unknown shooter.

Johannes Bah Kuhnke Nanna Blondell Anastasios Soulis Kalled Mustonen Thomas Hanzon Anna Azcárate Melvin Solin Johan Hedman Peter Borossy Veronica Mukka Per Mårthans

Director Director

Alain Darborg

Producers Producers

Anna Odenhall Niklas Larsson

Writers Writers

Per Dickson Alain Darborg

Casting Casting

Tor Nyman Johannes Persson

Editor Editor

Magnus Häll

Cinematography Cinematography

Benjam Orre

Production Design Production Design

Christian Olander

Art Direction Art Direction

Sandra Aldell

Stunts Stunts

Johan Lindqvist

Composer Composer

Carl-Johan Sevedag

Sound Sound

Andreas Franck Oscar Lovnér Anders Niva Lars Wignell Jesper Miller Kenneth Skoglund

Film i Dalarna SF Studios

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Swedish English

Releases by Date

11 feb 2021, releases by country.

Digital 15 Netflix
Digital Netflix
Digital 16 Netflix
Digital R18+
Digital M18 Netflix

South Korea

Digital 18 Netflix
Digital NR Netflix

86 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★ 16

Red Dot is on target.

The international movies released by Netflix lately have been more hit than miss, and Red Dot might be the best one so far.

Red Dot on paper appears like the standard chase in the woods flick. A married couple try to survive the night from an unknown killer. However, it is the insane final act that distinguishes Red Dot from a lot of other films in the same genre.

I like the movie. I love the ending. Put Red Dot on your radar when Netflix releases it globally on February 11th.

FULL REVIEW ON BULLETPROOF ACTION

Review by chanels0ul ★★½ 1

every year a film comes out that does sweden absolutely no favours

Review by Austin Burke ★★½ 6

⚠️54% YouTube review - Click HERE 2021 list - Click HERE

When Nadja becomes pregnant, they make an attempt to rekindle their relationship by traveling to the north of Sweden for a hiking trip but soon thier romantic trip turns into a nightmare.

Red Dot is a familiar yet slightly inventive Thriller that starts off extremely strong. The introduction is interesting, but the beginning of the second act sets us off on a wild adventure from that point on. The second the red dot itself shows up is when everything gets amplified to an 11/10. This couple is going through a bit of a rough patch, but what we discover as we progress is that there is much more to it than…

Review by Todd! ★★ 6

They deserve it.

Review by Chris Heck

Boris was the only likable character.

Review by Fabian ★½ 3

Red Dot masquerades as 85 minutes of tight Swedish noir, but turns out to be badly written, clichéd and manipulative with little to no emotional or suspenseful value attached.

Basically, the plot of Red Dot boils down to a couple trying to rekindle their relationship by going on a camping trip in Northern Sweden, where they soon turn into your typical kind of helpless tourists that are often at the center of nature-related horror films. While they are camping in the middle of the snow-filled forests, a red dot on their bodies quickly alerts them to someone apparently trying to claim their lives, which plunges them deep into a nightmarish scenario. The premise already hints towards an uninspired survival thriller,…

Review by Jake Alda Coffey ★½

I can’t explain it but the minute the lead character proposed to his girlfriend over the phone in a bathroom stall, I knew this movie was going to be crappy.

Review by brono ★★

why do they have to kill the dog? what a disgusting and unnecessary scene.

Review by clementine ★★★½ 3

love love love this concept so i was bound to at least somewhat enjoy it - even if it logistically made as much sense as the way this film ended up going. more snow horror movies pls

Review by Lebowskidoo 🇨🇦 🎬 🍿 ★★★★ 1

A young couple goes camping (in the winter!) in northern Sweden. Along the way, they antagonize some other motorists who seem to be out for revenge.

Red Dot is the latest Swede-noir thriller Netflix offering. It has a streamlined story that never stops moving forward, and some twists to keep you on edge. It's not going to revolutionize movie making or anything, it's just a basic thriller that actually thrills. Lots of gasps while watching. Trust me, you won't see the twists until they come. Left me with a lot to think about. It's getting a lot of negativity, but I enjoyed the ride.

Beautiful scenery, especially the Northern Lights!

Review by tobias (: ★★ 1

what kind of name for a dog is Boris? like the only people it could be after are Boris Yeltsin, Boris Johnson, or Boris the animal from MiB3. And I wouldn’t want my dog to be like any of those

Review by Jakob ★★★★

Unpopular opinion: I liked this movie!

I mean... it made me mad as hell, because every single situation took the worst possible outcome. But knowing that is also what made it so entertaining. I was invested the entire time.

The concept is awesome! + it‘s pretty intense and brutal

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Release date

12 th February 2021

The latest Netflix original release – and the first Swedish language feature launched by the streaming giant – Red Dot transports viewers to Stockholm for a romantic drama turned electrifying horror that thrusts one into the heart of a manhunt among the freezing desolate wastelands. Much like other wilderness thrillers of its kind, this chilly number takes a while to get going. But as the ice and snow begin to thicken, so does the plot, creating an 85-minute avalanche of a film that is certainly not for the faint of heart.

David (Anastasios Soulis) and Nadja (Nanna Blondell) are a recently engaged young couple trying to make it work in the capital. In a bid to provide some much-needed respite, the former surprises his partner with a romantic trip to see the Northern Lights. What begins as an exciting and beautiful adventure slowly turns sour and dangerous after they encounter less-than-welcoming locals. Before long, demons of the past and present appear to haunt the visitors as they must flee for their lives.

Spectators will be unable to take their eyes off this unravelling drama on screen. One’s fingers and toes begin to feel the frostbite creeping in with every snow-laden scene. The sense of peril increases as David and Nadja face racial prejudice, unexpected violence and ultimately fall into an even larger trap manifested by those they least anticipated. Directed by Swedish filmmaker Alain Darborg, the movie is less about the presence of a “red dot” from a rifle as the title suggests. Instead, it is a study into the actions of humanity, investigating how we deal with loss, guilt and victimisation. At first, the viewer is led to believe that the protagonists are pure and innocent: just two lovers who have fallen into the clasp of someone else’s sick intentions. But as Darborg peels back the layers, it is revealed that they too are hiding something.

This disclosure comes a little late in the narrative. However, with excellent performances and chemistry from Soulis and Blondell, the preceding script and sequences are exceptionally easy to process. Despite the sprinkling of a little clichéd dialogue, the film works as a whole – arguably presenting more questions than answers as it reaches its conclusion – but nonetheless providing enough excitement throughout. Prepare to be shocked at the direction the flick takes in the third act as the darkness of despair shrouds over the protagonists, proving no one is safe from the cold hand of revenge should the seeker be determined enough to serve it.

Guy Lambert

Red Dot is released on Netflix on 12 th February 2021.

Watch the trailer for Red Dot here:

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Common Sense Media Review

Violence, language in uneven Swedish horror-thriller.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 16+?

Characters shot and killed with rifles. Child killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Constant profanity. "F--k" often used. Also: "c--ts," "s--t," "damn," "hell." A

Champagne drinking. Drinking in a bar, no drunkenness. Whiskey drinking.

Any Positive Content?

Explores themes of revenge and retribution.

Lead female character is strong and independent, almost always taking the initia

Violence & Scariness

Characters shot and killed with rifles. Child killed in a hit-and-run accident. Characters shot at by an unknown assailant as they see nothing in the dark except the assailant's red laser pointer. Character strikes another with a rock to the head, killing them. A missing dog is found in a tent, its head severed. A man holds a rifle to another man and orders him to drill the midsection of his pregnant wife, is unable to do so. Character shot with a flare, set on fire. Character gets their forearm caught in a bear trap. Constant peril, characters shown in extreme trauma. Character hit in head with a rifle butt. Character shot in leg. Near-drowning after falling through thin ice.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Constant profanity. "F--k" often used. Also: "c--ts," "s--t," "damn," "hell." A racial slur. Character makes a pun on the word "syphilis."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

Lead female character is strong and independent, almost always taking the initiative in the fight for survival. The two lead characters, one of whom a person of color, find that someone has vandalized their car with a racial slur.

Parents need to know that Red Dot is a 2021 horror-thriller in which a married couple on a camping trip find themselves pursued by an unknown assailant with a rifle. Expect violence throughout, as characters are shot and killed with rifles, a child is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and a character is killed by a rock to the head. A character is shot with a flare and set on fire. In one of the more disturbing scenes, the couple return to their tent to find their dog's severed head. A character's forearm gets caught in a bear trap. Near drowning in an icy lake when the thin ice breaks. Constant peril and trauma. There's also constant profanity, including "f--k" often used. The two lead characters, one of whom a person of color, find that someone has vandalized their car with a racial slur. In Swedish, with English subtitles. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

In RED DOT , David and Nadja are a young Stockholm married couple whose marriage seems to be in trouble. In an attempt to rekindle their love for each other, David surprises Nadja with the opportunity to go on a weekend camping trip to northern Sweden, where they can spend quality time under the Northern Lights. Soon, with their pet dog Boris along for the ride, the couple make the trek to the north, but their trip soon hits a snag after an unpleasant interaction with a creepy and racist hunter at a gas station. When they arrive at the inn where they'll spend their first night, they see the hunter drinking in the bar, and wake up the next morning to find a racial slur scrawled on the back of their car. When they see the hunter's truck parked outside a general store, Nadja decides to get revenge by scratching the side of the truck with a screwdriver. They narrowly escape, and believe that the altercation is over once they start to hike and set up their tent for the night. Their tranquility is short lived, as they soon discover a red dot that follows them, usually pointed at their heads. Shots are fired, and David and Nadja must run for their lives through the snow and the cold. Now, a fight for survival ensues as the couple must find out who exactly is trying to kill them, and why.

Is It Any Good?

This uneven thriller could have been great, but too many issues keep it from reaching that potential. Intense action paired with plot twists that grow increasingly absurd. That's Red Dot , a Swedish horror-thriller that plays with the tried-and-true "city folk go into the country where they are pursued by homicidal countryfolk" storyline to meditate on themes of revenge and retribution. Although, "meditate" may be too tranquil of a word, as the young Stockholm married couple, David and Nadja, endure endless trauma, near-death, and torture once that titular red dot makes its first appearance. The acting is clearly a case of A+ for the effort of enduring these many traumas, even if the journey to get to these aforementioned themes of violence and retribution become a little too convenient, shoehorned, and illogical.

To its credit, these plot twists do extricate the movie from the usual boilerplate tropes of "psycho rednecks" wreaking havoc on the proverbial "city slickers." Once the action gets started, it doesn't let up, and the movie does strike a nice balance between the action and the development of David and Nadja's characters, their relationships, and how their actions may or may not have precipitated this descent into a life-or-death struggle in the Swedish hinterlands. It's just that the biggest plot twists ultimately feel unsatisfying and not fully explained. These "third act problems" prevent Red Dot from being a great movie, instead of a good one. As the movie plays with expectations, and on the audience's feelings as to who should be getting their comeuppance at the end, the story increasingly feels like the last 20 minutes in particular are forced into fitting into a theme of Old Testament justice, but the answers provided seem nihilistic. Also, it's not as if the main themes of the movie haven't been explored so many times before.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Red Dot . How does it compare to other horror-thrillers? Is it necessary? Why or why not?

How is the lead female character a strong leader? What other thrillers feature strong women?

What does the movie seem to be saying about revenge and retribution? What are your thoughts on this?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : February 11, 2021
Cast : Nanna Blondell , Anastasios Soulis , Thomas Hanzon
Director : Alain Darborg
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
Studio : Netflix
Genre : Horror
Run time : 86 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
Last updated : February 17, 2023

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Red Dot Ending, Explained

Netflix’s ‘Red Dot’ is a Swedish survival -thriller film directed by Alain Darborg from a screenplay written by Darborg and Per Dickson. It stars Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, and Thomas Hanzon in the lead roles. It tells the story of a couple on a romantic getaway being hunted by a mysterious gunman. It is pulsating to watch the couple fight for their survival and stick by each other’s side despite the testing circumstances. The film unfolds like any formulized thriller, with clever red herrings and tense chase sequences. It is during the final act that it truly distinguishes itself by delivering some shocking twists that give us satisfying answers to all the questions it raises. For those wondering how it all ends, here are all the answers. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Red Dot Plot Synopsis

David and Nadja are still together. However, their relationship has hit a few roadblocks. Nadja finds out that she is pregnant. She is overwhelmed and confides in their neighbor, Tomas (Thomas Hanzon), about her reservations when it comes to having a child. David surprises Nadja with a hiking trip to the northern mountains to reignite romance and rekindle their relationship.

On their way to the remote resort, they have a small accident with a pickup truck belonging to two local hunters. They run into the hunters again at the resort. The following morning, they discover the hunters have drawn racist graffiti on their car. Enraged, Nadja keys their pickup truck in retaliation, further aggravating the hunters. Later at night, the couple’s romance is interrupted by a laser dot inside their tent. As they come out to confront the person behind this act, gunshots are fired at them, and they are forced to run for their lives. What ensues is a gripping cat and mouse chase.

How Do David and Nadja Escape from the Hunters?

The audience, along with David and Nadja, believes they are being chased down and hunted by the two local hunters. They find a shelter and spend the night there. In the morning, they return to their tent to collect resources but find the beheaded body of their dog, Boris. They once again have to flee when the hunters reappear and fire at them from afar. Nadja sees two shadowy gun-wielding figures in the distance, confirming her suspicion that the hunter twins are behind all this. Meanwhile, David is badly injured and has hallucinations of a boy in a yellow jacket.

Who is Behind the Rifle?

Upon arriving at the cabin, Nadja asks Einar, the bartender, to call for help as David’s condition worsens because of all his injuries. Einar, however, doesn’t call for help and threatens the couple. They lock themselves in a room to protect themselves. It is in this room that a very shocking revelation takes place. David and Nadja find various photographs of themselves on the wall and quickly realize someone has been keeping tabs on all their actions. A figure holding a rifle equipped with a laser dot enters the room.

A flashback reveals Tomas was flying a drone with his son when the accident that killed the boy happened. It was using the footage from this drone that he was able to identify and track down the couple. He integrated himself into their lives by moving into a building right across from theirs and waited for the perfect opportunity to take his revenge. It was Tomas who gave David the idea for the vacation at Bear Valley, and it was indeed he who has been menacing the couple all this time.

Red Dot Ending: Do David and Nadja Survive?

While he initially planned to kill the couple, Tomas has a far more deranged and sinister plan for the two. David is forced to drill a hole in Nadja’s belly, effectively killing their baby to save Nadja’s life. However, when he fails to do it, Tomas threatens to shoot Nadja. Jarmo arrives and is shot by Tomas while David and Nadja take advantage of the confusion and escape. The mental trauma and physical injuries are too much for David, and he asks Nadja to go on without him.

Nadja runs through the dense snow-covered woods as Tomas holds David at gunpoint. Just as he is about to shoot David, Nadja returns with the gun of the hunter who was killed by David. Pointing the gun at Tomas, she is about to fire but is shot in the head from behind. Tomas’ unforeseen wife reveals herself. Distraught by the deaths of the woman he loves and his child, David begs Tomas to kill him. Tomas leaves him alive to experience the same pain David inflicted upon him.

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Red Dot is the first Swedist-original feature film to release on Netflix. The film is directed by Alain Darborg, written by Alain Darborg and Per Dickson, and stars Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis and Johannes Kuhnke, alongside other cast members.

Two people underprepared for the wilderness mess with the wrong crowd a few hours before they’re supposed to camp in the middle of nowhere. They have a dog. Two points for the people who can guess which of these three dies within the first 30 minutes of the movie.

Red Dot has a simple premise and tries not to do anything too complicated, which works in its favour very well. The movie follows biracial couple David and Nadja who go on a trekking and camping trip to spruce up their degrading marriage. However, from the moment they arrive at their destination, the air is tense and it ultimately culminates into something more disturbing.

The movie, as I was saying, is pretty simple, the twist something we have seen previously in different movies. However, even with a familiar premise, Red Dot is quite the adventure. That is, probably, partly due to the absolutely amazing and terrifying snow-covered wilderness where the movie takes place most of the time. The couple is forced to face off not only crazy people but also the harsh and unforgiving climate. Director Alain Darborg brings forth the beauty of the snow-laden mountains peppered with trees and iced-over lakes and makes it absolutely terrifying all at the same time.

On the other hand, David and Nadja’s fight against the evil people who want to see them dead over a scratched car (or so they think) is terrifying in and of itself. As I said previously, it’s not new. However, actors Nanna Blondell and Anastasios Soulis bring forth the tragedy of their characters’ situations with ease and makes you invested in their fight for survival. The fact that Red Dot starts off with David’s extremely awkward proposal and then moves on to their lives in the present probably makes us a little more invested in their characters. Because, unfortunately, there’s not much character setup we get otherwise.

Another great achievement of Red Dot is the fact that the movie is a taut 86-minutes-long. It’s just the right amount, in my opinion – not too long, not too short. That means that the creators did not have extra time to waste behind meaningless plot points that slow down the movie. It’s the right length to enjoy and be invested in and keeps you occupied for the majority of it.

The movie features a few gruesome deaths, there’s a lot of blood on the white snow and there’s a horrifying scene at the end which, thank god, the director and writers thought not to go through with. Body horror is honestly great, but I draw the line somewhere. The movie is an entertainer that doesn’t make it too complicated to follow or give it too many plot points to piece together. You realise what might be the case probably at the 60-minute mark, but it’s still pretty interesting to watch nonetheless.

Performances by the principle cast, including Nanna Blondell and Anastasios Soulis, are pretty great. Most of the movie rests on their shoulders and they do a great job at keeping us tensed and on the edge. The supporting cast, too, is quite good and menacing.

Summing up: Red Dot

Red Dot is a satisfying film for all those who feel like watching something thrilling but don’t want to invest too many brain cells into the whole experience. It’s crisp, short and has all the right elements to keep its audience on the edge and delivers a thrilling final scene that might just make you question a lot of things.

Red Dot is streaming on Netflix.

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Overall

OVERALL SCORE

Red Dot Movie

Who's Involved:

Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, Tomas Bergström, Thomas Hanzon, Alain Darborg, Anna Azcárate, Niklas Larsson, Anna Odenhall, Johannes Bah Kuhnke, Per Dickson, Kalled Mustonen

Release Date:

Thursday, February 11, 2021 Netflix

Plot: What's the story about?

David and Nadja attempt to rekindle their relationship on a romantic hiking trip to the North of Sweden. The trip quickly turns into a nightmare when a red laser dot appears in their tent, and they are forced to flee into the unforgiving wilderness pursued by an unknown shooter.

2.89 / 5 stars ( 9 users)

Poll: Will you see Red Dot?

Who stars in Red Dot: Cast List

Nanna Blondell

Attack on Finland

Anastasios Soulis

Tomas Bergström

Kalled Mustonen

Johannes Bah Kuhnke

Thomas Hanzon

Anna Azcárate

Who's making Red Dot: Crew List

A look at the Red Dot behind-the-scenes crew and production team.

Alain Darborg

Screenwriters

Alain Darborg Per Dickson

Production Company

Watch red dot trailers & videos.

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Production: What we know about Red Dot?

Filming timeline.

2020 - December : The film was set to Completed status.
2020 - December : The film was set to Post-Production status.
2020 - August : The film was set to Pre-Production status.

Red Dot Release Date: When was the film released?

Red Dot was a Netflix release in 2021 on Thursday, February 11, 2021 .

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Thu., Dec. 31, 2020
added a poster to the photo gallery
set the MPAA rating to NR
changed the movie production status to Completed
changed the US film release date from TBA to February 11, 2021
set film release to Netflix
added photos to the photos gallery
added drama as a genre
added a photo to the photo gallery
added a synopsis
changed the movie production status to Post-Production

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‘Red Dot’ Summary & Ending, Explained – An Outdated Thriller

Red Dot (2021 Film) Analysis - An Outdated Thriller

Sometimes the narrative progresses in a way where most of the details are hidden from the audience. Things are happening on screen but we can’t decipher why or for what. Red Dot incorporates the same technique where a couple is threatened by a sniper red dot in the snow-coated mountain region of Northern Sweden. It tries to trick you with multiple actions that would have led to the outcome, but the real reason is integrated much deeper into the couple’s past.

Directed by Alain Darborg , Red Dot is a Swedish thriller film narrated in the Swedish language. Subtitles would help you to understand the film better. It’s a simple story about a couple, David and Nadja who take a romantic trip to a snow-covered area of Northern Sweden to rekindle their marital relationship.

As they arrive, a series of bad events captures their attention. David, while driving out of the gas pump, dents a hunter’s truck. The couple quickly escapes the place and checks in their hotels. Nadja is a black woman and is met with racism in the northern parts of Sweden. When the next day, they find a racist message written on their car number plate, Nadja gets furious. She thinks it’s done by the hunters whose car they dented accidentally. Nadja takes revenge by scratching their car with a screwdriver.

While enjoying their moment in a tent in the snow, a red dot suddenly appears on their body. They come out of their tent and find the red dot keeping moving to different parts of their body, but the gun or the snipper isn’t visible in thick fog. Here starts bloodshed. They are chased by an unknown predator who threatens David and Nadja by firing on them mercilessly.

The film further explores the identity of this unknown predator and why he is trying to gun down the couple. While they are speculative and suspicious that it’s the racist hunters who are chasing them, the climax is somewhat different.

‘Red Dot’ Ending Explained

If you have noticed, the first time the red dot appears in the film is when Nadja and David are fueling their car, a lot before they meet or interact with the hunters. Thus, it was never the hunters who were chasing them down.

The answer lies in their past, a past mistake that was kept hidden from the viewers. When David proposes to Nadja for the marriage, the couple gets a bit nasty. David is driving back home and Nadja tries to give him an oral, and with their attention swayed, David hits a kid with his car. Instead of calling the police or an ambulance, the couple decides to run away. The father of the kid, Einar or Tomas (fake name), saw the accident in a drone which was being chased by his kid. Furious with the act, Einar didn’t tell the police about David and Nadja and decided to take revenge himself.

Einar plots a plan to bring David and Nadja to the Northern part of Sweden and make them suffer as he did. Nadja is pregnant and Einar wants poetic justice at any cost. Thus, it was Einar who pointed the red dot on the couple and made their life a nightmare. In the end, Einar kills Nadja but leaves David to live a life of remorse and guilt and suffer until he breathes.

In Red Dot, the purpose of revenge is a bit cliche. It doesn’t shock you much. For a thriller film like this, it is nothing extraordinary. A similar Spanish film, The Invisible Guest (2016) which has the same purpose of revenge and exact same incident explores the genre much more brilliantly. It has the shock value which thriller audience craves for. If you haven’t seen it, do check out this mind-blowing Spanish thriller. For Red Dot, it can be missed.

Red Dot (film) is streaming on Netflix .

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Featured stories, ‘red dot’: review.

In director Alain Darborg’s latest cinematic concoction, “Red Dot,” married couple and soon-to-be parents David, played by Anastasios Soulis, and Nadja, played by Nanna Blondell, attempt to patch their marriage via a trip to a nearby ski resort. Unfortunately, an unidentified sniper with a grudge has other ideas. The couple’s getaway, which started with aspirations to take in the Northern Lights, quickly turns into a hellish nightmare as the two are forced not only to evade their trigger-happy pursuer, but battle the harsh mountain conditions as well.

A Swedish film to begin with, the Netflix version replaces the lines of Soulis and Blondell with those of American voice actors. And while it’s not a complete game changer, this leads to some lines sounding artificial and not packing the punch you would expect. It also means that, at least for Soulis and Blondell, their quality performances will at times come across as less impressive.

While the dialogue may be the film’s biggest letdown, Darborg provides the viewer with some truly stunning cinematography. A close-up of Blondell’s soaked, horror-struck face as she desperately searches for a submerged Soulis makes you feel as if you’re the one that is slowly sinking away from her. An extreme wide shot, on the other hand, depicts the icy terrain that Soulis and Blondell are now being forced to traverse in order to escape.

As for the film’s soundtrack, courtesy of Carl-Johan Sevedag, according to the Internet Movie Database , it adds to the movie’s on edge atmosphere. However, sometimes no sound at all proved to make the biggest difference. With no background noise whatsoever, Blondell lies in the snow as she watches Soulis inspect their rediscovered tent, the same tent they were forced to flee the night before. The only sound is that of Blondell’s choppy breathing, and that is the only sound the viewer needs. “Red Dot” may not consistently hit the mark for the entire one hour and 27 minutes, but it still provides a plethora of twists and scares. And I should not forget that the film’s finale, stuffed with a mix of gore and gut-wrenching moments, should chill even the hard-to-please horror fans.

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REVIEW: “Red Dot” (2021)

There’s more than frigid weather and armed stalkers threatening a young couple in the tight and tense Swedish film “Red Dot” from director and co-writer Alain Darborg. Despite its familiar framing, “Red Dot” mixes ingredients from several genres to come up with its own unique flavor. It’s a run-for-your-life horror movie one minute and a gritty survival thriller the next. But when blended together the story has some heavy things to say about humanity and the world we live in.

The film is driven by two terrific lead performances. Nadja (Nanna Blondell) and David (Anastasios Soulis) are so in love when we first meet them. He has just graduated from engineering school and they’re about to move to Stockholm where she will finish medical school. But before they go David pops the big question and asks Nadja to marry him. She enthusiastically accepts and the two are ready to spend the rest of their lives together. “ It all begins here “, David lovingly pledges.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

Jump ahead eighteen months and things have changed. Now married in Stockholm, David has a great job but works long hours and does nothing but lounge when he’s home. A frustrated Nadja resents that she’s left with all the housework on top of her studies. She’s also hiding a secret from her husband that adds to her stress. After five tests to be certain Nadja has learned she is pregnant. Normally that’s exciting news, but considering the state of their marriage she’s terrified.

Realizing they desperately need to rekindle their fire, David surprises Nadja with a romantic weekend getaway to snowy Northern Sweden. There they can focus on each other, do a little skiing, and camp out under the beautiful Northern Lights. The trip starts by hitting a lot of familiar notes. For example this isn’t the first time we’ve seen city folks venturing into wilderness and having a run-in with some backwoods locals. For David and Nadja it begins with two creepy-acting brothers at a gas station. Then an uncomfortable encounter with oddballs at a lodge. But everything gets on track and after a fun day outdoors they retire to their tent underneath the famed aurora borealis.

Then their night is interrupted when a bright red laser dot (hence the title) appears on the canvas of their tent, moving around like a laser pointer. But as you can probably guess, it’s no laser pointer. Within minutes the two are indeed running for their lives into the ice-cold darkness with bullets zipping by their heads from a shooter they can’t see. At the same time this is where the movie’s survival elements really kick in with Darborg utilizing his snowy environment extremely well. There are a couple of times where the sensation of freezing from the cold is vivid and palpable.

As things play out the movie does struggle with an issue that many of these films do – questionable and head-scratching decisions. Yes, you can chalk some of it up to the anxiety of the moment and not thinking clearly. But more than once I caught myself asking things like “ Why didn’t you grab the gun ?” or yelling “ Go back and get the snowmobile !”. But the story makes up for it with a twist-filled and slightly subversive final act that does some spirited things with the themes of making shallow judgements and running from your past.

By the end of “Red Dot” I found myself surprised by what it had become. What started as a familiar concept with a routine setup turned into something with a lot more meat on its bones. It fully embraces elements of its genre influences, but the film is built on some heady ideas that are brought together well in a visceral second half that completely throws out any notion of black and white; good or bad. It looks at an ugly side of humanity and what we as people are capable of doing. And of course it looks at the consequences for those actions which we too often fail to consider. “Red Dot” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT- 3.5 STARS

The Red Dot Strategy: Master 600 Basic Sight Words

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Last updated

23 September 2024

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COMMENTS

'Red Dot' Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?
Red Dot is a bold film, one unafraid to reveal the ugliness of human nature and the often bleak reality of the world. And while compelling to watch unfold, it's not a very fun reality to accept ...
Red Dot
Red Dot is an interesting and solidly executed suspense movie. Rated: 6/10 • Jan 16, 2023. Somewhat overcharged, perhaps too close to the token disparate Western police-thriller (think Guy ...
Red Dot (2021)
Red Dot is a competent enough thriller but is likely to get lost in the blizzard of action flicks that roll in across 2021. In its simplest form, this movie plays out as an 80 minute cat and mouse chase, with lots of running and surviving across a bleak, snowy wasteland. The characters are generally well written though, with a nice twist midway ...
Red Dot
Red Dot is an interesting and solidly executed suspense movie. Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jan 16, 2023. Somewhat overcharged, perhaps too close to the token disparate Western police ...
Red Dot (film)
Red Dot is a 2021 Swedish drama thriller film written by Alain Darborg with Per Dickson and directed by Alain Darborg. The film stars Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, Thomas Hanzon, ... 70% of ten critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.00/10. [4] References
Red Dot review
In Netflix's first Swedish original feature-film, Red Dot, director and co-writer Alain Darborg leads audiences on well-worn tracks through the expected beats of a typical survival thriller before veering wildly off-course. It takes an hour of the lean 86-minute runtime for this wintry genre exercise to warm up, but when it does its tone and themes become impressively bleak, even in contrast ...
Red Dot ending explained
Netflix's Red Dot is a film that takes some surprising turns and veers into rather challenging territory, so it'll doubtlessly be the kind of thing that prompts a fair amount of discussion among those who found it in the thumbnails, watched expecting one thing, and were shocked to get something else entirely.The final act is properly deranged and contains a good helping of developments, so ...
Red Dot (2021)
Red Dot: Directed by Alain Darborg. With Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, Thomas Hanzon, Johannes Kuhnke. When Nadja becomes pregnant, she and David make an attempt to rekindle their relationship by traveling to the north of Sweden for a hiking trip, but soon their romantic trip turns into a nightmare.
Red Dot (2021)
Top_Dawg_Critic 12 February 2021. Red Dot is an international Swedish film written and directed by Alain Darborg, in his second full length feature film, with only a handful of shorts and TV episodes under his belt. His directing was on point, with excellent use of the landscape and sets. The story we've seen before, and up until the last 20 ...
Red Dot
In the Swedish mountains, David and Nadja, a couple in their late twenties, struggle with their marriage. When Nadja becomes pregnant they make an attempt to rekindle their relationship and decide to travel to the magnificent expanses in the north of Sweden for a ski hike. But after what started as a quarrel with two local hunters, their romantic trip slowly turns into a nightmare. Soon, a red ...
'Red Dot' Review: An Unnerving Thriller Which Will Make You Question
Red Dot is directed by Alain Darborg. It is written by Alain Darborg and Per Dickson. The music is by Carl-Johan Sevedag, cinematography by Benjam Orre, editing by Magnus Häll, production design by Christian Olander, art direction by Sandra Aldell, costume design by Nicolas Olivier Richard, makeup by Malin Roos, Therese Sandersson, and Mikael Andersson, special makeup effects by Sara Hogg and ...
‎Red Dot (2021) directed by Alain Darborg • Reviews, film + cast
The international movies released by Netflix lately have been more hit than miss, and Red Dot might be the best one so far. Red Dot on paper appears like the standard chase in the woods flick. A married couple try to survive the night from an unknown killer. However, it is the insane final act that distinguishes Red Dot from a lot of other ...
Red Dot
Directed by Swedish filmmaker Alain Darborg, the movie is less about the presence of a "red dot" from a rifle as the title suggests. Instead, it is a study into the actions of humanity ...
Red Dot Movie Review
Parents need to know that Red Dot is a 2021 horror-thriller in which a married couple on a camping trip find themselves pursued by an unknown assailant with a rifle. Expect violence throughout, as characters are shot and killed with rifles, a child is killed in a hit-and-run accident, and a character is….
Red Dot Ending, Explained
Netflix's 'Red Dot' is a Swedish survival-thriller film directed by Alain Darborg from a screenplay written by Darborg and Per Dickson. It stars Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, and Thomas Hanzon in the lead roles. It tells the story of a couple on a romantic getaway being hunted by a mysterious gunman. It is pulsating to […]
Netflix's Red Dot Review: Thrilling and Entertaining
The fact that Red Dot starts off with David's extremely awkward proposal and then moves on to their lives in the present probably makes us a little more invested in their characters. Because, unfortunately, there's not much character setup we get otherwise. Another great achievement of Red Dot is the fact that the movie is a taut 86-minutes ...
Everything You Need to Know About Red Dot Movie (2021)
Across the Web. Red Dot in US theaters February 11, 2021 starring Nanna Blondell, Anastasios Soulis, Tomas Bergström, Kalled Mustonen. David and Nadja attempt to rekindle their relationship on a romantic hiking trip to the North of Sweden. The trip quickly turns into a night.
Vortex Defender-ST Review
Details on the Vortex Defender-ST Red Dot Sight. Let's take a look at the key specs: The Defender-ST is a 1X red-dot optic mainly intended for handgun use. The red dot is 3 MOA in size as tested (while a 6 MOA version is also available), with a total of 10 brightness settings, with the lowest two being night vision-compatible.
'Red Dot' Summary & Ending, Explained
In Red Dot, the purpose of revenge is a bit cliche. It doesn't shock you much. For a thriller film like this, it is nothing extraordinary. A similar Spanish film, The Invisible Guest (2016) which has the same purpose of revenge and exact same incident explores the genre much more brilliantly. It has the shock value which thriller audience craves for.
Red Dot
Red Dot - Movie Review. Randy Steinberg. February 21, 2021. Out damned spot! says Lady Macbeth after realizing reckless ambition has engendered indelible guilt. I'm not sure the makers of the new film on Netflix, Red Dot, quite got the gist of Macbeth, but they have co-opted the idea of guilt in the creation of a thriller, as well as the ...
Steiner's MPS Closed Pistol Red-Dot Sight: Review
Steiner's MPS Closed Pistol Red-Dot Sight: Review This German closed pistol red dot is built for hard use. The Steiner MPS boasts a long battery life, big aiming window and uses the ACRO mounting interface. September 21, 2024 By Frank Melloni. Iron sights have remained unchallenged in the reliability department. It's hard to argue the ...
'Red Dot': Review
In director Alain Darborg's latest cinematic concoction, "Red Dot," married couple and soon-to-be parents David, played by Anastasios Soulis, and Nadja, played by Nanna Blondell, attempt to patch their marriage via a trip to a nearby ski resort. Unfortunately, an unidentified sniper with a grudge has other ideas.
REVIEW: "Red Dot" (2021)
There's more than frigid weather and armed stalkers threatening a young couple in the tight and tense Swedish film "Red Dot" from director and co-writer Alain Darborg. Despite its familiar framing, "Red Dot" mixes ingredients from several genres to come up with its own unique flavor. It's a run-for-your-life horror movie one minute and a…
Red Dot (2021) Netflix : r/movies
Red Dot (2021) Netflix. I just finished watching this dark, Swedish thriller that was released yesterday. Wow. It's a great watch but be prepared it is depressing. General premise is a young couple clearly having some relationship troubles take a weekend trip to the mountains and things go terribly wrong as they're pursued through the woods ...
Watch Red Dot
Trying to rekindle their marriage and with a child on the way, a young couple on a ski trip suddenly finds themselves stalked by remorseless killers. Watch trailers & learn more.
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